How often do bipolar episodes occur
Causes, who has it, and mood changes
Bipolar disorder involves extremes of both high and low moods and a range of other symptoms. In rapid cycling, moods change quickly, with at least 4 distinct mood episodes per year.
Bipolar disorder is a lifelong condition that most commonly appears for the first time in young adults.
Symptoms may occur during adolescence, but it can be difficult to identify, because mood changes are common at this stage of development.
Apart from mood, bipolar disorder also causes changes in energy levels and behaviors known as cycles.
To have a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, a person must only experience one manic episode. Depression may never occur with bipolar disorder, despite the name.
Many people with bipolar disorder will experience two cycles per year, according to the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance.
When someone has four or more manic, hypomanic, or depressive episodes in a 12-month period, this is called rapid cycling.
There is no clear trigger for rapid cycling, but bipolar changes occur due to changes in brain chemicals. Doctors and scientists have proposed a number of reasons why this might happen.
Circadian rhythms
Some research has suggested that circadian rhythm regulation may have an impact, as sleep disturbances occur alongside mood changes.
In 2018, one researcher found correlations between the sleep patterns of 18 men with rapid-cycling bipolar disorder and the moon’s tides, suggesting that this might have an influence.
The investigator suggested that, in rapid-cycling, a part of the body’s “circadian pacemaker” may have become “uncoupled” from the day’s normal 24-hour rhythm.
This supports the findings of a study, published in 2010, of genetic features in people with rapid-cycling bipolar disorder. The scientists found changes in CRY2, a gene that plays a role in the core clock that produces circadian rhythms.
Antidepressant use
One psychiatrist, Dr.
S. Nassir Ghaemi, has written about his professional observations of rapid cycling bipolar disorder for The American Journal of Psychiatry.
In a study published in 2008, he suggested that the use of antidepressants may increase the risk in some cases.
Dr. Ghaemi recommended avoiding any type of medication that can destabilize a person’s mood.
Other health conditions
Other possible triggers for rapid cycling in people who are susceptible to bipolar disorder might be:
- hypothyroidism
- certain neurological conditions, such as multiple sclerosis
- developmental delay
- a head injury
Sensitization to stress
Another possible cause of rapid cycling is known as kindling, or sensitization.
This theory says that initial episodes happen when actual or expected life events cause stress.
The person becomes increasingly sensitive to things that may trigger the cycles, and they become more likely to follow this pattern over time.
Without treatment, bipolar disorder and episodes of stress can result in rapid cycling.
Anyone with bipolar disorder can experience rapid cycling, but it is more likely to affect women than men.
According to the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario, around 10–20 percent of people with bipolar disorder experience rapid cycling. Between 70–90 percent of these are women.
It can happen at any time during a person’s experience of bipolar disorder, and it can come and go. Not everyone with rapid-cycling will experience changes four times every year.
A study published in 2014 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry also suggests that rapid cycling might be more likely to affect those who:
- have had bipolar symptoms for a longer period of time
- were relatively young when bipolar symptoms first appeared
- are more prone to substance and alcohol abuse
- have a higher risk of suicide
This does not mean that these factors cause rapid cycling, only that they are more likely to occur with this type of disorder.
Rapid cycling involves extreme changes in moods four or more times in a 12-month period.
These changes can be mentally and physically exhausting.
Licensed therapist Harold Jonas explains that rapid-cycling bipolar disorder:
“Makes a person literally live life at its extreme ranges of emotion and pushes their mental and physical endurance to the brink. It’s a literal rollercoaster where the emotional ‘highs’ are very high, and the ‘lows’ are dangerously low.”
Harold Jonas
The following symptoms can occur when a person has rapid-cycling bipolar disorder.
Rapid-cycling manic episode
A manic episode is a period of elevated, enthusiastic, or irritable mood lasting at least 1 week. It will include at least three of these symptoms:
- a high mood
- high levels of physical and mental activity and energy
- increased positivity and self-confidence
- increased irritability and aggression
- reduced need for sleep without tiring
- racing speech and thoughts
- overreaction to stimuli
- increased libido, or sex drive
- impulsiveness or poor judgment, which may lead to reckless behavior
- delusions and hallucinations, which may include a sense of self-importance
Hypomanic episode
A hypomanic episode is similar to a manic episode but less severe and without the delusions or hallucinations that can occur in a manic episode).
It is different from a person’s non-depressed mood. There is a clear change in activity and attitude and visible behavior that is out of character.
Rapid-cycling depressive episode
A major depressive episode can follow or precede a manic episode. To be considered a major depressive episode, the symptoms must last about 2 weeks or more.
During this time, five or more of the following symptoms are present:
- extreme sadness or unexplained crying spells
- changes in appetite and sleep patterns
- irritability, anger, worry, agitation, or anxiety
- pessimism or indifference
- exhaustion or loss of energy
- unexplained aches and pains
- feeling guilty, worthless, or hopeless
- excessive concern about failures and inadequacies
- reduced libido, or sex drive
- inability to concentrate, leading to indecisiveness
- inability to enjoy former interests, social withdrawal
- misuse of alcohol intake or other substances
- recurring thoughts of death or suicide
Mixed state or mixed mania
Some people may experience what is known as a “mixed state” when symptoms of a manic and depressive state are both present at the same time.
Dr. Jonas explained to MNT: “People who experience mixed states describe feeling activated and ‘revved up,’ but also full of anguish and despair.”
He explained that, during mixed mania, a person may experience all of the following over the course of a few minutes:
- rapid, pressured speech
- impulsive, out-of-control thoughts of suicide, self-destruction or aggression
- hopelessness
- irritability
- uncontrollable shifts between racing thoughts and a feeling of “being in blackness”
What do bipolar mood shifts feel like?
For those who are trying to help their loved ones cope with bipolar disorder, it is important to try and understand what the cycles feel like.
On the outside, they may simply look like extreme highs and lows. The person who experiences these changes, however, may also be having irrational thoughts and sensations.
Rachel Kallem Whitman, who received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder at the age of 17 years, described for MNT her experience of mania:
“My mania comes with feelings of grandiosity, invincibility, and delusions.
In addition to my mania making me feel electric, seductive, and brilliant, during episodes I also feel like I’m touched by God and consider Princess Diana to be my guardian angel, which is interesting because I’m a devout atheist.”
As with other types of bipolar disorder, treatment is available.
Options include:
- medications to stabilize mood and, if necessary, to prevent psychosis
- anti-depressant drugs, if determined appropriate
- counseling
- joining a support group or network
It can take time to find the right drugs in the right amounts to suit an individual’s needs. It is important not to change the dose or stop taking a medication without speaking to a doctor first.
Sometimes people with bipolar disorder stop using their medication because of the side effects or because, when they feel good, they believe they do not need it.
It may also help to keep a track of moods. If a pattern appears, this may enable the person to be prepared for the next change and perhaps to avoid or minimize certain triggers.
Rapid cycling is a form of bipolar disorder in which mood changes can happen several times throughout the year.
This can be confusing and frightening for both the person who experiences it and for their loved ones.
Treatment is available, but it can take time to reach a diagnosis of any type of bipolar disorder and also to find the right balance of treatment.
Anyone who has a friend or relative with rapid-cycling bipolar disorder can help the person by learning as much as they can about the condition and offering support as the person goes through their mood changes or treatment plan.
Causes, who has it, and mood changes
Bipolar disorder involves extremes of both high and low moods and a range of other symptoms. In rapid cycling, moods change quickly, with at least 4 distinct mood episodes per year.
Bipolar disorder is a lifelong condition that most commonly appears for the first time in young adults.
Symptoms may occur during adolescence, but it can be difficult to identify, because mood changes are common at this stage of development.
Apart from mood, bipolar disorder also causes changes in energy levels and behaviors known as cycles.
To have a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, a person must only experience one manic episode. Depression may never occur with bipolar disorder, despite the name.
Many people with bipolar disorder will experience two cycles per year, according to the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance.
When someone has four or more manic, hypomanic, or depressive episodes in a 12-month period, this is called rapid cycling.
There is no clear trigger for rapid cycling, but bipolar changes occur due to changes in brain chemicals. Doctors and scientists have proposed a number of reasons why this might happen.
Circadian rhythms
Some research has suggested that circadian rhythm regulation may have an impact, as sleep disturbances occur alongside mood changes.
In 2018, one researcher found correlations between the sleep patterns of 18 men with rapid-cycling bipolar disorder and the moon’s tides, suggesting that this might have an influence.
The investigator suggested that, in rapid-cycling, a part of the body’s “circadian pacemaker” may have become “uncoupled” from the day’s normal 24-hour rhythm.
This supports the findings of a study, published in 2010, of genetic features in people with rapid-cycling bipolar disorder. The scientists found changes in CRY2, a gene that plays a role in the core clock that produces circadian rhythms.
Antidepressant use
One psychiatrist, Dr. S. Nassir Ghaemi, has written about his professional observations of rapid cycling bipolar disorder for The American Journal of Psychiatry.
In a study published in 2008, he suggested that the use of antidepressants may increase the risk in some cases.
Dr. Ghaemi recommended avoiding any type of medication that can destabilize a person’s mood.
Other health conditions
Other possible triggers for rapid cycling in people who are susceptible to bipolar disorder might be:
- hypothyroidism
- certain neurological conditions, such as multiple sclerosis
- developmental delay
- a head injury
Sensitization to stress
Another possible cause of rapid cycling is known as kindling, or sensitization.
This theory says that initial episodes happen when actual or expected life events cause stress.
The person becomes increasingly sensitive to things that may trigger the cycles, and they become more likely to follow this pattern over time.
Without treatment, bipolar disorder and episodes of stress can result in rapid cycling.
Anyone with bipolar disorder can experience rapid cycling, but it is more likely to affect women than men.
According to the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario, around 10–20 percent of people with bipolar disorder experience rapid cycling. Between 70–90 percent of these are women.
It can happen at any time during a person’s experience of bipolar disorder, and it can come and go. Not everyone with rapid-cycling will experience changes four times every year.
A study published in 2014 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry also suggests that rapid cycling might be more likely to affect those who:
- have had bipolar symptoms for a longer period of time
- were relatively young when bipolar symptoms first appeared
- are more prone to substance and alcohol abuse
- have a higher risk of suicide
This does not mean that these factors cause rapid cycling, only that they are more likely to occur with this type of disorder.
Rapid cycling involves extreme changes in moods four or more times in a 12-month period.
These changes can be mentally and physically exhausting.
Licensed therapist Harold Jonas explains that rapid-cycling bipolar disorder:
“Makes a person literally live life at its extreme ranges of emotion and pushes their mental and physical endurance to the brink. It’s a literal rollercoaster where the emotional ‘highs’ are very high, and the ‘lows’ are dangerously low.”
Harold Jonas
The following symptoms can occur when a person has rapid-cycling bipolar disorder.
Rapid-cycling manic episode
A manic episode is a period of elevated, enthusiastic, or irritable mood lasting at least 1 week. It will include at least three of these symptoms:
- a high mood
- high levels of physical and mental activity and energy
- increased positivity and self-confidence
- increased irritability and aggression
- reduced need for sleep without tiring
- racing speech and thoughts
- overreaction to stimuli
- increased libido, or sex drive
- impulsiveness or poor judgment, which may lead to reckless behavior
- delusions and hallucinations, which may include a sense of self-importance
Hypomanic episode
A hypomanic episode is similar to a manic episode but less severe and without the delusions or hallucinations that can occur in a manic episode).
It is different from a person’s non-depressed mood. There is a clear change in activity and attitude and visible behavior that is out of character.
Rapid-cycling depressive episode
A major depressive episode can follow or precede a manic episode. To be considered a major depressive episode, the symptoms must last about 2 weeks or more.
During this time, five or more of the following symptoms are present:
- extreme sadness or unexplained crying spells
- changes in appetite and sleep patterns
- irritability, anger, worry, agitation, or anxiety
- pessimism or indifference
- exhaustion or loss of energy
- unexplained aches and pains
- feeling guilty, worthless, or hopeless
- excessive concern about failures and inadequacies
- reduced libido, or sex drive
- inability to concentrate, leading to indecisiveness
- inability to enjoy former interests, social withdrawal
- misuse of alcohol intake or other substances
- recurring thoughts of death or suicide
Mixed state or mixed mania
Some people may experience what is known as a “mixed state” when symptoms of a manic and depressive state are both present at the same time.
Dr. Jonas explained to MNT: “People who experience mixed states describe feeling activated and ‘revved up,’ but also full of anguish and despair.”
He explained that, during mixed mania, a person may experience all of the following over the course of a few minutes:
- rapid, pressured speech
- impulsive, out-of-control thoughts of suicide, self-destruction or aggression
- hopelessness
- irritability
- uncontrollable shifts between racing thoughts and a feeling of “being in blackness”
What do bipolar mood shifts feel like?
For those who are trying to help their loved ones cope with bipolar disorder, it is important to try and understand what the cycles feel like.
On the outside, they may simply look like extreme highs and lows. The person who experiences these changes, however, may also be having irrational thoughts and sensations.
Rachel Kallem Whitman, who received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder at the age of 17 years, described for MNT her experience of mania:
“My mania comes with feelings of grandiosity, invincibility, and delusions.
In addition to my mania making me feel electric, seductive, and brilliant, during episodes I also feel like I’m touched by God and consider Princess Diana to be my guardian angel, which is interesting because I’m a devout atheist.”
As with other types of bipolar disorder, treatment is available.
Options include:
- medications to stabilize mood and, if necessary, to prevent psychosis
- anti-depressant drugs, if determined appropriate
- counseling
- joining a support group or network
It can take time to find the right drugs in the right amounts to suit an individual’s needs. It is important not to change the dose or stop taking a medication without speaking to a doctor first.
Sometimes people with bipolar disorder stop using their medication because of the side effects or because, when they feel good, they believe they do not need it.
It may also help to keep a track of moods. If a pattern appears, this may enable the person to be prepared for the next change and perhaps to avoid or minimize certain triggers.
Rapid cycling is a form of bipolar disorder in which mood changes can happen several times throughout the year.
This can be confusing and frightening for both the person who experiences it and for their loved ones.
Treatment is available, but it can take time to reach a diagnosis of any type of bipolar disorder and also to find the right balance of treatment.
Anyone who has a friend or relative with rapid-cycling bipolar disorder can help the person by learning as much as they can about the condition and offering support as the person goes through their mood changes or treatment plan.
Bipolar Disorder | Symptoms, complications, diagnosis and treatment
Bipolar disorder, formerly called manic depression, is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings that include emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression). Episodes of mood swings may occur infrequently or several times a year.
When you become depressed, you may feel sad or hopeless and lose interest or pleasure in most activities.
When the mood shifts to mania or hypomania (less extreme than mania), you may feel euphoric, full of energy or unusually irritable. These mood swings can affect sleep, energy, alertness, judgment, behavior, and the ability to think clearly.
Although bipolar disorder is a lifelong condition, you can manage your mood swings and other symptoms by following a treatment plan. In most cases, bipolar disorder is treated with medication and psychological counseling (psychotherapy).
Symptoms
There are several types of bipolar and related disorders. They may include mania, hypomania, and depression. The symptoms can lead to unpredictable changes in mood and behavior, leading to significant stress and difficulty in life.
- Bipolar disorder I. You have had at least one manic episode, which may be preceded or accompanied by hypomanic or major depressive episodes. In some cases, mania can cause a break with reality (psychosis).
- Bipolar disorder II. You have had at least one major depressive episode and at least one hypomanic episode, but never had a manic episode.
- Cyclothymic disorder. You have had at least two years - or one year in children and adolescents - many periods of hypomanic symptoms and periods of depressive symptoms (though less severe than major depression).
- Other types. These include, for example, bipolar and related disorders caused by certain drugs or alcohol, or due to health conditions such as Cushing's disease, multiple sclerosis, or stroke.
Bipolar II is not a milder form of Bipolar I but is a separate diagnosis. Although bipolar I manic episodes can be severe and dangerous, people with bipolar II can be depressed for longer periods of time, which can cause significant impairment.
Although bipolar disorder can occur at any age, it is usually diagnosed in adolescence or early twenties.
Symptoms can vary from person to person, and symptoms can change over time.
Mania and hypomania
Mania and hypomania are two different types of episodes, but they share the same symptoms. Mania is more pronounced than hypomania and causes more noticeable problems at work, school, and social activities, as well as relationship difficulties. Mania can also cause a break with reality (psychosis) and require hospitalization.
Both a manic episode and a hypomanic episode include three or more of these symptoms:
- Abnormally optimistic or nervous
- Increased activity, energy or excitement
- Exaggerated sense of well-being and self-confidence (euphoria)
- Reduced need for sleep
- Unusual talkativeness
- Distractibility
- Poor decision-making - for example, in speculation, in sexual encounters or in irrational investments
Major depressive episode
A major depressive episode includes symptoms that are severe enough to cause noticeable difficulty in daily activities such as work, school, social activities, or relationships.
Episode includes five or more of these symptoms:
- Depressed mood, such as feeling sad, empty, hopeless, or tearful (in children and adolescents, depressed mood may manifest as irritability)
- Marked loss of interest or feeling of displeasure in all (or nearly all) activities
- Significant weight loss with no diet, weight gain, or decreased or increased appetite (in children, failure to gain weight as expected may be a sign of depression)
- Either insomnia or sleeping too much
- Either anxiety or slow behavior
- Fatigue or loss of energy
- Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt
- Decreased ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness
- Thinking, planning or attempting suicide
Other features of bipolar disorder
Signs and symptoms of bipolar I and bipolar II disorder may include other signs such as anxiety disorder, melancholia, psychosis, or others.
The timing of symptoms may include diagnostic markers such as mixed or fast cycling. In addition, bipolar symptoms may occur during pregnancy or with the change of seasons.
When to see a doctor
Despite extreme moods, people with bipolar disorder often do not realize how much their emotional instability disrupts their lives and the lives of their loved ones and do not receive the necessary treatment.
And if you are like people with bipolar disorder, you can enjoy feelings of euphoria and be more productive. However, this euphoria is always accompanied by an emotional disaster that can leave you depressed and possibly in financial, legal, or other bad relationships.
If you have symptoms of depression or mania, see your doctor or mental health professional. Bipolar disorder does not improve on its own. Getting mental health treatment with a history of bipolar disorder can help control your symptoms.
Bipolar affective disorder (BAD), its signs, types and methods of treatment
Manifestations of various emotions, a change in a person's mood, manifestations of both sadness and joy are normal and depend on many factors - from temperament and character to ongoing events that influence from the outside.
However, when these changes are excessive, often unexpected and for no apparent reason, emotions get out of control, or a person remains in a radically positive or negative mood for a long time, it is very likely that bipolar disorder can be diagnosed. This disease was first described at the end of 19century, the famous German psychiatrist Emil Kripelin, calling it manic-depressive psychosis. Many world famous personalities such as Vincent van Gogh, Isaac Newton, Ludwig van Beethoven, Abraham Lincoln suffered from this disease. The pronounced form of this disease, which in the international classification of diseases is called bipolar affective disorder (BAD), is detected in 3% of the world's population.
CONTENT OF THE ARTICLE
- 1. Bipolar Personality Disorder - Overview
- 2. Symptoms and signs
- 3. Types of Bipolar Disorder
- 4. Phases of Bipolar Disorder
- 5. Bipolar disorder in women
- 6. Treatment of Bipolar Personality Disorder
It is not uncommon for women to be treated with a combination of drug therapy and cognitive behavioral or interpersonal therapy with a psychotherapist.
Bipolar personality disorder - general information
According to statistics, bipolar disorder affects people between the ages of 14 and 44. Unlike adults, children and adolescents experience more frequent mood swings from mania to depression, sometimes several times a day. 90% of young people make their debut precisely from the phase of depression or melancholy. Another feature of bipolar disorder is that, due to the low level of diagnosis, the patient can live with this disease for 5-10 years without knowing the cause of the painful symptoms.
Most often, bipolar disorder is diagnosed in people whose immediate family members have had a similar problem. The causes of this disease are unknown, but stress, overstrain, and various diseases can provoke the manifestation of its symptoms. However, having fenced off a person from the influence of these factors, it is impossible to get rid of the problem, you need to seek help from a psychotherapist.
Bipolar disorder is a disease that cannot be completely cured.
But with properly selected medication and psychotherapy, the quality of life is significantly improved and the periods between phases are lengthened. The person remains socialized and able to work.
Symptoms and signs
From the name it is clear that we are talking about two different poles of affective manifestations, that is, mood manifestations. One of these conditions is depression. Depression in bipolar disorder is pronounced, with vivid symptoms. It can last up to a year and is manifested not only by low mood, lack of ability to enjoy and interest in ongoing events, but also by psychosis, when ideas of self-accusation arise, the patient feels inferior, unnecessary, poisoning the life of others. There are also nihilistic thoughts about suffering from some kind of severe illness, despite medical evidence to the contrary. There may be delusional thoughts, as well as suicidal thoughts and even attempts.
The other pole of bipolar disorder is a hypomanic state or hypomania, the characteristic features of which are an increased euphoric emotional background, the patient is constantly on the move, hyperactive, and is distinguished by very fast, associative speech.
The patient is constantly cheerful, often hypersexual, almost always awake or sleeping 2-3 hours a day.
Hypomania is often followed by a manic bipolar state with psychotic manifestations. The patient develops convictions in his own greatness, he believes that he is capable of anything, feels that he has a special calling in this world or that he is a descendant of great people. In extended manic episodes of mania with psychotic manifestations, anger, irritability, and direct aggression often occur. This condition leads the patient into extremely unpleasant and sometimes dangerous situations.
In addition to the typical symptoms of the disease, there are a large number of comorbid mental disorders. Comorbid mental disorders are those that accompany the underlying disease. The most common disorder of this kind is anxiety, which is manifested, among other things, by nonspecific autonomic symptoms, including sweating, palpitations, tremors of the limbs, various disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, dizziness, headaches, suffocation, and many others.
In the case when these symptoms occur suddenly, mainly in public places, they are called panic attacks.
Types of bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder can be of Ι and ΙΙ types.
Bipolar I disorder is a condition in which the patient has persistent manias, i.e. overexcitation, enthusiastic inappropriate behavior, manic psychosis, as well as severe depressions. Symptoms of this type are more severe, so hospitalization is indicated in most cases.
Bipolar I disorder is characterized by short periods of hypomania followed by periods of deep depression. Hypomania is a pre-manic state with less active manifestations. Hypomania lasts a very short period of time - from several days to several hours, so sometimes patients do not even notice them and do not inform the doctor about it. Only careful, painstaking work with the patient makes it possible to identify hypomania, make the correct diagnosis and prescribe treatment.
Phases of bipolar disorder
There are several phases of bipolar personality disorder:
- Depressive (unipolar depression).
People experience a depressed mood, despair and despondency, complain of a lack of energy and mental concentration, they can either eat too much or too little and sleep.
Depersonalization and derealization may occur at the peak of bipolar depressive disorder. The boundaries of their own "I" and the world around them become blurred, patients experience difficulties in perceiving what is happening. Familiar places seem new, the colors of the surrounding world change, the patient constantly experiences a feeling of "déjà vu". Sounds become muffled, even if someone is talking very close, it seems to the patient that the voice is coming from afar.
- Manic (hypomanic). In this state, patients are full of energy, overly happy or optimistic, euphoric, and have extremely high self-esteem. At first glance, these are positive signs, but when a person experiences large-scale manic episodes, these symptoms and such an emotional state can reach dangerous extremes.
A patient in this phase may indiscriminately spend huge amounts of money or behave carelessly, not realizing the full danger. In conversation, people may choke on words, speak at a high speed, or jump from one thought to another. These episodes may also be accompanied by delusions of grandeur or the adoption of serious decisions without thinking about the further consequences.
In the development of the manic phase, the following stages of development can be distinguished:
- Hypomania - increased excitement, emotional upsurge.
- Mania - all signs are more pronounced, aggression, irritability, irascibility and rage are possible.
- Phase peak. The patient constantly experiences nervous excitement, he cannot relax. All his emotions are "heated" to the limit, coordination of movements is disturbed, thoughts are illogical and abrupt, in speech he constantly jumps from one sentence to another.
- Relief of symptoms. The patient gradually calms down.
Movement disorders are on the decline. The speed of thinking and increased emotional mood remain unchanged. - Return to normal.
- Mixed. Sometimes people have complaints that are characteristic of both depression and mania at the same time. They may also experience frequent phasing—4 or more episodes in one year.
In the intervals between depressive and manic phases in bipolar disorder, there is a light period during which the general background of mood becomes relatively stable, the person continues to respond adequately to certain events, the emotional sphere is under his control. This is the main criterion for remission of bipolar disease.
Bipolar disorder in women
According to statistics, bipolar Ι disorder occurs with the same frequency in men and women, and type ΙΙ disease is more often diagnosed in women. It is also known that the female course of the disease is characterized by rapid cycles and mixed episodes.
Comorbidities often include eating disorders, borderline personality disorder, alcohol or drug addiction, and psychotropic drug abuse. Women are more susceptible to such somatic diseases as migraine (intense headaches), thyroid pathologies, diabetes, and obesity.
For women, a special technique is being developed to alleviate this disorder, since from adolescence to menopause there are specific changes in hormonal levels that must be taken into account. In addition, psychotropic substances, which are supposed to stabilize the condition, can adversely affect the intrauterine development of the fetus if the woman is in position. It is noted that in the first trimester of pregnancy this disorder is milder, but after childbirth they often have to deal with postpartum depression. Thus, at each stage of the development of the female body, a competent doctor must review and adjust the treatment regimen. Often in the treatment of women, a complex method is used that combines drug therapy and cognitive-behavioral or interpersonal therapy with a psychotherapist.
This approach gives the fastest results.
Treatment for bipolar disorder
Attempts to get rid of bipolar disorder on your own do not bring the desired result and, ultimately, lead to an aggravation of the situation, including the development of drug or alcohol dependence. In the diagnosis of the disease, keeping a mood diary can help, where the patient records all his thoughts, emotions, feelings, changes in mood. Such records will help the doctor to assess the mental state in detail and make the correct diagnosis. If you suspect bipolar disorder, you should consult a doctor, and the sooner a person realizes that he has a disease and comes to the clinic for help, the sooner professional help will be provided to him and painful symptoms will be replaced by a stable condition. It is impossible to get rid of the disease on your own, since a person cannot fully adequately assess not only his actions, but also the alternation of the phases of the disease.
Bipolar disorder is one of the few mental disorders in which medication is indicated in 100% of cases, and psychotherapy is an auxiliary tool.
This disease is incurable, but its diagnosis and treatment is extremely important. Treatment can reduce the number of episodes, their severity and intensity, as well as prevent negative life events, help prevent relationship breakups, job loss, and even suicidal attempts. Thus, the quality of life of a patient with bipolar disorder who is undergoing treatment will be several times higher than that of a person who neglects treatment. If the patient loses touch with reality and harms himself and others, he is subject to hospitalization, outpatient treatment in this case is not permissible.
If you have a disease, it is recommended to exclude coffee, strong tea, alcoholic and energy drinks from your diet in order not to provoke an overexcited state. If possible, you should stop smoking and in no case should you take even soft drugs. It is also very important to establish a sleep pattern, sleep at least 8 hours a day and try to go to bed at about the same time. You should learn to recognize mood swings and notice the early manifestations of new episodes.
